Consider the User
More than anything else, a shift to mobile is an excellent opportunity for creativity, and this is heavily inspired by the true personalization offered with a smartphone. We are now realizing that nothing is more personal than a mobile device.
Companies have been able to create remarkable campaigns just by being aware of the habits, location and interests of their customers. The current dominant mobile apps vary by country across the world: in North America, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook still rule the mobile landscape.
In China, Weixin is the mobile chat network that is taking over the corporate and retail landscape with exclusive advertising campaigns from luxury brands, global news outlets and restaurants. In staying current and mindful of the habits of their consumers:
•Coca-Cola has been able to boost sales and stay relevant by their Share a Coke campaign
•Nike earned more customized shoe orders from a campaign that urged users to take inspirational photos
• Ikea lets people visualize their dream living room with an augmented reality app
More and more, large corporations are experimenting with personalization tools, hyper-localization and the technological freedom inherent with smartphones and tablets.
Consider that you will not want to be left behind the mobile app movement. If you are not working on this now, you are already behind in the game. Think how much you, yourself, use your mobile phone.
Watch those around you, with their phones, especially the millennials. The millennials are now the largest population, and the most diverse generation in the U.S. Watch how a millennial will rarely even buy a package of gum (slight exaggeration) without checking online to see who has the best price, and what kind of gum everyone else is buying.
You need a good, responsive mobile app, and you probably need it now.